Teaching English… …by Antonia Gk 

FORM

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

• You have seen that movie many times.
• Have you seen that movie many times?
• You have not seen that movie many times.

Complete List of Present Perfect Forms

USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Examples:

• I have seen that movie twenty times.
• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
  B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

How Do You Actually Use the Present Perfect?

TOPIC 1 Experience

You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, “I have the experience of…” You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.

Examples:

• I have been to France.
  This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.
• I have been to France three times.
  You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.
• I have never been to France.
  This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
• I think I have seen that movie before.
• He has never traveled by train.
• Joan has studied two foreign languages.
• A: Have you ever met him?
  B: No, I have not met him.

TOPIC 2 Change Over Time

We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.

Examples:

• You have grown since the last time I saw you.
• The government has become more interested in arts education.
• Japanese has become one of the most popular courses at the university since the Asian studies program was established.
• My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.

TOPIC 3 Accomplishments

We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You cannot mention a specific time.

Examples:

• Man has walked on the Moon.
• Our son has learned how to read.
• Doctors have cured many deadly diseases.
• Scientists have split the atom.

TOPIC 4 An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting

We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened. Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.

Examples:

• James has not finished his homework yet.
• Susan hasn’t mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
• Bill has still not arrived.
• The rain hasn’t stopped.

TOPIC 5 Multiple Actions at Different Times

We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.

Examples:

• The army has attacked that city five times.
• I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
• We have had many major problems while working on this project.
• She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.

Time Expressions with Present Perfect

When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now. Remember, the exact time the action happened is not important.

Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with expressions such as: in the last week, in the last year, this week, this month, so far, up to now, etc.

Examples:

• Have you been to Mexico in the last year?
• I have seen that movie six times in the last month.
• They have had three tests in the last week.
• She graduated from university less than three years ago. She has worked for three different companies so far.
• My car has broken down three times this week.

NOTICE

“Last year” and “in the last year” are very different in meaning. “Last year” means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. “In the last year” means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I went to Mexico last year.
  I went to Mexico in the calendar year before this one.
• I have been to Mexico in the last year.
  I have been to Mexico at least once at some point between 365 days ago and now.

USE 2 Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. “For five minutes,” “for two weeks,” and “since Tuesday” are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I have had a cold for two weeks.
• She has been in England for six months.
• Mary has loved chocolate since she was a little girl.

Although the above use of Present Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words “live,” “work,” “teach,” and “study” are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:

• You have only seen that movie one time.
• Have you only seen that movie one time?

Gerunds are -ing forms of verbs. They look exactly the same as a present participle, but they are not part of any verb tense. Instead, they are used as nouns.

Notice that

Gerunds may be used exactly as nouns are used.

The gerund as the subject of the sentence

Examples

• Eating people is wrong.
• Hunting tigers is dangerous.
• Flying makes me nervous.
• Brushing your teeth is important.
• Smoking causes lung cancer.

The gerund as the object of the sentence

Examples

• He dislikes doing homework.
• The manager suggested having our meeting away from the office.
• He proposed meeting in a restaurant.
• I look forward to seeing you soon.
• She’s worried about missing her bus.
• Are you tired of studying?
• She’s depressed about not passing the test.
• He’s nervous because of not being on time.
• He’s tired from not getting enough sleep.

The gerund as the subject complement of the verb ‘to be’

Examples

• One of his duties is attending meetings.
• The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund.
• One of life’s pleasures is having breakfast in bed.

• His hobby is playing computer games.
• My least favorite chore is cleaning the bathroom.
• His problem is not coming to class on time.

Special Notes:

The gerund after prepositions

The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition. This is also true of certain expressions ending in a preposition, for example the expressions in spite of & there’s no point in.

Examples

• Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
• She is good at painting.
• She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road.
• We arrived in Madrid after driving all night.
• My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary.
• There’s no point in waiting.
• In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time.

The gerund after phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb + preposition or adverb.

Examples

• When will you give up smoking?
• She always puts off going to the dentist.
• He kept on asking for money.
• Jim ended up buying a new TV after his old one broke.

There are some phrasal verbs that include the word “to” as a preposition for example to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to get around to, & to be used to. It is important to recognise that the word “to” is a preposition in these cases because it must be followed by a gerund. It is not part of the infinitive form of the verb. You can check whether “to” is a preposition or part of the infinitive. If you can put the pronoun “it” after the word “to” and form a meaningful sentence, then the word “to” is a preposition and must be followed by a gerund.

Examples

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.
• I look forward to it.
• I am used to waiting for buses.
• I am used to it.
• She didn’t really take to studying English.
• She didn’t really take to it.
• When will you get around to mowing the grass?
• When will you get around to it?

The gerund in compound nouns

In compound nouns using the gerund, it is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb. For example, with the word “swimming pool” it is a pool for swimming in, it is not a pool that is swimming.

Examples

• I am giving Sally a driving lesson.
• They have a swimming pool in their back yard.
• I bought some new running shoes.

The gerund after some expressions

The gerund is necessary after the expressions can’t help, can’t stand, to be worth, & it’s no use.

Examples

• She couldn’t help falling in love with him.
• I can’t stand being stuck in traffic jams.
• It’s no use trying to escape.
• It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train.

NOUNS AND QUANTIFIERS

To answer the questions How much? and How many? certain quantifiers can be used with countable nouns (friends, cups, people), others with uncountable nouns (sugar, tea, money) and still others will all types of nouns.

Examples

• Would you like some tea and a few cookies?
• I always put a little milk and some carrots in my soup.
• He has several apples. I don’t have any fruit at all.
• She has plenty of clothes for the winter.
• I recieved a large amount of feedback from my survey.

Using “Much” and”Many”

Much and many are mainly used in interrogative and negative sentences. They are also used in affirmative and negative sentences in combination with too and so. Notice: the word many can be used alone in affirmative sentences while the word much cannot. Much is replaced in affirmative sentences with a lot of or lots of (these expressions can also replace many).

Modals are different from normal verbs:

1: They don’t use an ‘s’ for the third person singular.
2: They make questions by inversion (‘she can go’ becomes ‘can she go?’).
3: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without ‘to’).

!Note The modal auxiliary verbs are always followed by the base form.

Must

Must” is most commonly used to express certainty. It can also be used to express necessity or strong recommendation, although native speakers prefer the more flexible form “have to.” “Must not” can be used to prohibit actions, but this sounds very severe; speakers prefer to use softer modal verbs such as “should not” or “ought not” to dissuade rather than prohibit.

Examples:

• This must be the right address! certainty
• Students must pass an entrance examination to study at this school. necessity
• You must take some medicine for that cough. strong recommendation
• Jenny, you must not play in the street! prohibition

REMEMBER: “Must not” vs. “Do not have to”
“Must not” suggests that you are prohibited from doing something.

“Do not have to” suggests that someone is not required to do something.

Examples:

• You must not eat that. It is forbidden, it is not allowed.
• You don’t have to eat that. You can if you want to, but it is not necessary.

Have To

“Have to” is used to express certainty, necessity, and obligation.

Examples:

• This answer has to be correct. certainty
• The soup has to be stirred continuously to prevent burning. necessity
• They have to leave early. obligation

May

“May” is most commonly used to express possibility. It can also be used to give or request permission, although this usage is becoming less common.

Examples:

• Cheryl may be at home, or perhaps at work. possibility
• Johnny, you may leave the table when you have finished your dinner. give permission
• May I use your bathroom? request permission

Might

“Might” is most commonly used to express possibility. It is also often used in conditional sentences. English speakers can also use “might” to make suggestions or requests, although this is less common in American English.

Examples:

• Your purse might be in the living room. possibility
• If I didn’t have to work, I might go with you. conditional
• You might visit the botanical gardens during your visit. suggestion
• Might I borrow your pen? request

REMEMBER: “Might not” vs. “Could not”
“Might not” suggests you do not know if something happens. “Could not” suggests that it is impossible for something to happen.

Examples:

• Jack might not have the key. Maybe he does not have the key.
• Jack could not have the key. It is impossible that he has the key.